2004:
A special Fourth of July fireworks show is held at Disney-MGM Studios. (This Florida park normally doesn't host fireworks.)
"It's our America,
do something
to preserve its' beauty,
strength, and natural wealth."
-Walt Disney
1862:
A mathematics professor named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and Reverend Robinson Duckworth go rowing up the River Thames with 10-year-old Alice Liddell (the young daughter of a friend) and her sisters Lorina (age 13) and Edith (8). Dodgson creates a story on the spot to amuse Alice and her sisters. Much of the story he invents is based on a picnic a couple of weeks earlier in which they had been caught in the rain. The girls love it, and Alice asks Dodgson to write it down for her. After much delay, he will eventually write his tale down and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will be published 3 years later under Dodgson's pen name - Lewis Carroll. (In 1951, Disney will release an animated feature based on this popular story - Alice in Wonderland.)
1927:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Trolley Troubles premieres at the
Criterion Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
1956:
Disneyland's Indian War Canoes attraction debuts in Critter Country.
Walt Disney and his brother Roy (along with their wives) visit
Marceline, Missouri - their boyhood home and inspiration for Main
Street USA. That evening, approximately 6,000 persons from Marceline and
surrounding communities gather at the new Walt Disney Municipal Park (located just south
of the Marceline Country Club) to witness the dedication of a $78,500 swimming pool.
1968:
Mindy Feldman, sister of actor Corey Feldman and a member of the 1977-1978 TV show The New Mouseketeers, is born.
1979:
The first baby is born at Disneyland, California. Six-pound, 10-ounce Teresa Salcedo
is born to Rosa and Elias Salcedo on a bench behind Plaza Inn. Mickey Mouse will
later honor the Los Angeles family with a "Disneyland Birth Certificate No.1"!
1984:
World Premiere Circle-Vision (located in Disneyland's Tomorrowland) begins alternating two Circle-Vision 360° films - Wonders of China (in the morning) and American Journeys (in the afternoon & evening).
1987:
Tokyo Disneyland's version of Big Thunder Mountain sends its first
run-away mine train flying over the tracks in Westernland.
Over 87,000 guests visit Disneyland on this holiday -
an all-time record up to this time!
1988:
"Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular" is broadcast on television.
1992:
CBS-TV airs Celebrate the Spirit! Disney's All-Star 4th of July Spectacular. Hosted by John Ritter, the 2-hour show features musical acts like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Celine Dion. The program switches back and forth from the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Epcot Center, Disney-MGM Studios and Disneyland. The new nighttime spectacular, Fantasmic! is also highlighted.
1998:
Many towns across Florida including Walt Disney World cancel firework celebrations due to risk of setting additional forest fires in that state's worst fire disaster in fifty years.
1999:
Fantasy in the Sky, the nightly fireworks spectacle at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, gives way to Red, White & Blue, an 18-minute show boasting patriotic music and more than 900 pyrotechnic devices. "Stereo" fireworks surround guests viewing from the shadows of Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom and points all around the Seven Seas lagoon. Plus the colorful Main Street Electrical Parade brightens the streets of the Magic Kingdom twice during the evening.
2000:
At Walt Disney World, a giant 1 and a half-ton, 24 by 13 foot cherry cobbler - that resembles the Star-Spangled Banner -
is dished out to guests.
2001:
Disney's Electrical Parade returns to Anaheim, California, with nightly performances at Disney's California Adventure. Disney's Electrical Parade (formerly called the Main Street Electrical Parade) originated at Disneyland back in 1972.
2002:
At Walt Disney World, 500 immigrants from 89 countries are sworn in as U.S. citizens.
2003:
Walt Disney World guests are treated to a special edition of
Fantasy in the Sky fireworks featuring patriotic music.
1963:
The legendary Count Basie and his orchestra perform at Disneyland - finishing up a week of live performances.
1965:
Stan Kenton & his orchestra play the final show of a 6-day engagment at Disneyland.
1982:
Woody Herman and His Young Thundering Herd bring their big band sound to Disneyland for the first of a seven-day engagement.
1996:
Although established in 1994, "Phase One" of Disney's newest Florida community, Celebration, has its grand opening.
1955:
A special pre-opening party is held at the Disneyland for employees. (The park will debut in just 13 days.)
For a brief time in 1956, Disneyland guests on
Tom Sawyer Island were given fishing poles, hooks, and worms so they could fish for live catfish from the Catfish Cove docks near the Old Mill!
1898:
Actor Johhny Lee, the voice of Br'er Rabbit in Disney's 1946 Song of the South, is born in Los Angeles, California.
2007:
At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, a July 4th swearing-in of 1,000 new Americans take place. The ceremony features the presentation of the colors, a keynote address by U.S. Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, and Gloria Estefan singing the national anthem.
Hollywood Records recording artists Aly & AJ perform an edited version of their single "Potential Breakup Song" (from the album Insomniatic) on TV's Live with Regis & Kelly.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY
1950:
Actor Jonathan Benair, the voice of the Black and White TV in the 1987 animated film The Brave Little Toaster and Jim Bob in the 1997 The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue, is born.
1872:
Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth United States President, is born in Vermont. Visit him and all the U.S. Chief Executives at
Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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In the United States, Independence Day (also
known as the Fourth of July) is a federal
holiday commemorating the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776,
declaring independence from the
Kingdom of Great Britain.
2008:
A popular July 4th tradition at Walt Disney World Resort continues as star-spangled salutes and fireworks are presented at the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Downtown Disney.
“It is particularly thrilling to see this fine swimming pool here because when I was a kid here in Marceline we swam in a cow pasture pond – after we chased the cows out.” -Walt Disney
Disney's Beauty and the Beast is widely released in
theaters in South Korea
JULY
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JULY 4
Today is Independence Day
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JULY 4
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
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1975:
Disney's live-action comedy feature The Apple Dumpling Gang is released. Three orphaned children find a large gold nugget worth tens of thousands of dollars. But when their newfound wealth causes problems, they agree to "give" the gold to two bumbling outlaws. But there's one catch - the only way they can get the gold is to steal it from the bank vault where it's being held for safe keeping! The film features Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Harry Morgan, and Bill Bixby.
2009:
Disney World's revamped Hall of Presidents opens. Among the changes to the classic attraction (which first opened with the park in 1971) is the additon of an Audio-Animatronics figure of U.S.
President Barack Obama. The new Obama figure was created by Director of Sculpture Valerie Edwards
(who has taken over for Disney Legend Blaine Gibson).
